Mac is back in Town

Liam McAlinden says he is excited to be returning to Fleetwood Town for the rest of the season and has set his sights on helping the club push for the League One play-offs.

The 21-year-old, who first joined the Cod Army in October but was re-called to parent club Wolves after just five appearances, completed his second loan move on Thursday morning and admits he harbours an ambition to help Fleetwood secure a top-six finish this term.

Liam McAlinden

McAlinden told the Gazette: “It’s something I’ve wanted for the last three or four weeks now.

“ I’ve been speaking to the manager here and the manager at Wolves and we all decided it would be best to come back here and get a lot of game time hopefully.

“I’ve been in and around it since I went back to Wolves.

“Obviously they’re doing really well in their division and they’ve got a lot of top players so it’s harder for me to get in as much as I would like to.

“Dropping down a division to Fleetwood, hopefully I can come here, play every week and help them get to the play-offs where they want to be.”

The Republic of Ireland U21 striker, who scored three goals in nine games when on loan with Shrewsbury Town in League One last season, found the net twice for Fleetwood before returning to Kenny Jackett’s Wolves at the end of October.

McAlinden claimed there were a few clubs interested in securing his services but having settled in so well at Highbury, Fleetwood was always likely to be his first choice destination.

“Coming here I was already settled in,” he said.

“I know the players, I know the formation and the way we play and I know that I had a good spell here and enjoyed my time, so it was always first choice for me,”

“Other options were available but I chose to come here.

“I’ve got great respect for the manager who wanted to bring me back.

“I actually spoke to the manager myself and said I was interested in coming back, so it was mutual and I am just happy it is all done.”

Fleetwood boss Graham Alexander admitted he’d been pestering the midlands club to secure the services of McAlinden

He said: “We were interested in Liam from the moment he went back.

“We spoke to Wolves and said if he was ever available we’d love to have him here again.

“We’ve kept in constant contact with Wolves, probably annoyed them at times because we were always on the phone to them.

“But we wanted to make our side of it clear. It’s great to have him back.

“In his period of time here before he showed what he can do, he scored a couple of great goals.